trailer bearings

[rboat]

My boat trailer is 20 years old. I have never done anything to the bearings except pump in some grease each year. The fishing magazines always have articles about bearing failure on the highway. I have never seen anybody have this, but I am sure it happens. I am now scared to travel very far from home. Do I need to take it in and have everything cleaned and the bearings replaced or am I just being paranoid? Please help. If I were mechanically gifted, I could do it myself, but I do not have the tools or knowledge. Any advise?

[Catt]

I clean & repack bearing once a year rather they need it or not  

[Jig Man]

I haven't had it happen to the boat trailer but I have had a camper trailer bearing go out.  It got hot and caught on fire.  It was quite a mess.

With a trailer that old you are on borrowed time anyway.  If you don't feel confident, go have someone take them apart and see if they need to be replaced.  If the bearings are alright have them repacked and put new seals in.  It could save you a big headache down the road.

[skunked_again]

I clean & repack bearing once a year rather they need it or not  

me too plus i carry an extra set with races just in case.

[RobDar]

I had a bearing blow on me.

trust me when I tell you it is ALOT better to go buy what you need, and ask around and get it done...at home, in your driveway...than on the side of the expressway with semi's whipping by at 70 miles an hour...which is somewhere just this side of scary.

[NBR]

I don't remove mine anymore. Its not a hard job and getting the old outer races out of the hub is the most difficult part of the task. Now about every 5 years I have my auto mechanic remove and replace them and I lube 2 or 3 times a year through the Bearing Buddies.

[moloch16]

I'm in the same position as the OP.  Where do you learn to do the maintenance yourself?  I'm not afraid to give it a try if there's a book or something that explains the process.

[bassboy1]

If they don't have bearing buddies, put them on NOW.  Take them fully apart.  It is real easy.  Take off wheel  Pull off the cap (or BB, if it has them)  Now, you should see a cotter pin, and castle nut.  Put on rubber gloves, and remove these two items.  Trash cotter pin, and clean castle nut in mineral spirits.  Now, the hub should slide off, and the outer bearing might fall out the front.  Pull the seal.  A seal puller is handy for that, but a screwdriver works.  Now, the inner bearing should come out.  Spin the bearings in your hand.  If they grind, or upon inspection, have any pitting, replace them.  Many auto parts stores have them, unless they are one of those weird sizes from the 50s and 60s.  If replacing them, replace the races too.  They are the machined pieces inside the hub, that the bearing sits in.  Punch them out with a BRASS punch.  Steel WILL scratch the inside of the hub.  Clean the hubs real well.  Now, press in the new races.  Clean the protective coating off the new bearings, and smother them with bearing grease.  Set the back one in the race, and press on the new seal.  Clean off spindle, and put back on.  Put front bearing in, and then put on the castle nut, and a fresh cotter pin.  

Load the inside with grease, and then put on bearing buddies, and fill them.  They WILL save bearings.  I have two older trailers, both neglected, sitting out back.  One had BBs, one didn't.  The difference is amazing.  

When buying new bearings, and seals, make sure you get the right size.  Many spindles are stepped, so the inner bearing is larger diameter than the outer one.  Make sure you take this into account when buying new bearings, races and seals.  

If you want, you can carry a spare hub, pre grease, on your spare tire.  Many folks have a spindle for their spare, so if they have a flat, they change out the whole wheel, with hub attached, or if they have bearing trouble, they replace the whole wheel, instead of having to leave the trailer, to go to an auto parts store, and pick up the supplies to press in new races and bearings on the side of the road.  Changing a castle nut, and cotter pin is just as easy, as just changing the wheel.

[Raul]

My boat trailer is 20 years old. I have never done anything to the bearings except pump in some grease each year. The fishing magazines always have articles about bearing failure on the highway. I have never seen anybody have this, but I am sure it happens. I am now scared to travel very far from home. Do I need to take it in and have everything cleaned and the bearings replaced or am I just being paranoid? Please help. If I were mechanically gifted, I could do it myself, but I do not have the tools or knowledge. Any advise?

Nothing ever happens ...... until it happens.

Just ask me, it ain 't pretty when you hear that wham, skreeeeeeeech, sparkles flying everywhere, tire passes you at warp speed going from one lane to the other without signaling and you are taking a curve at 65 with a half ton boat pushing your tow vehicle and you just can 't hit the brakes.

And it happened to me twice on the same day  :-? ( same wheel ), instead of arriving at my home at 9 PM I got there at 4 AM, and you know THE FACE the wife has when you said you were going to arrive at a certain hour and arrive 7 hours later  , don 't know what scared me more, the bearing shredding to pieces or having to se THE FACE for over a week.

[fishingfourfun]

What kind of costs would I be looking at it I had someone replace my old bearings with bearing buddies including labor?  I have a 14 ft boat if that helpstell you the size of the trailer. I have had the boat for 5 years and have not replaced the bearings or even greased them for that matter.

[Raul]

Look at it the way I do F4F

2 Lost and destroyed bearings

1 Twisted liver

1 Severa case of diarreah when I got home

Had to change the entire bearing n 'stuff on the right side

Having to do everything on our own on a Sunday night exactly where there 's no phone signal

The Highway Patrol didn 't catch us infranganti or I would have had to pay a pretty hefty fine for scratching the highway pavement

The danged wheel didn 't strike anybody nor was run over by anybody

Having to stand THE FACE for over a week.

If somebody comes and tells me he 's gonna charge me 300 bones for doing it I really think it 's cheap.

It could have been more, I had to drag the boat for another 30 yards before I could find a place to park at to that the 90 or 100 yards I dragged the boat before I could stop, 130 yards of highway pavement aren 't cheap.

[Bud]

I had a trailer wheel come off about 3 week ago in downtown Nashville, Tn running about 70 MPh.  Like Raul said it aunt pretty.  Lucky the wheel did not hit anything or any thing hit it.